If you have been living under a rock these past few days and haven’t heard, the Mediterranean diet has been all over the news this week!

A new study has confirmed that following the Mediterranean diet can reduce the risk of strokes and other cardiovascular diseases.

Following the diet, enjoying life, changing your lifestyle to a healthier one, can actually be your ticket to a longer and healthier life!

“This study backs up what we thought we knew with science, and the results were pretty dramatic,” said Dr. Rita Redberg, a UCSF cardiologist specializing in heart disease in women. “If this were a pill, people would be clamoring for it.” Read more here

“The quality of fat in the Mediterranean diet is very good,” he told Reuters Health. “This good source of calories is replacing other bad sources of calories. In addition, there is a wide variety of plant foods in the Mediterranean diet,” he added, including legumes and fruits as desserts. Read more here

“Martinez-Gonzalez says people wanting to move toward such a diet should start with small changes, such as not eating meat on two days a week, move to using olive oil for cooking, and replacing hard alcohol with red wine, and drinking it only at mealtimes.” Read more here

“Now along comes this group and does a gigantic study in Spain that says you can eat a nicely balanced diet with fruits and vegetables and olive oil and lower heart disease by 30 percent,” he said. “And you can actually enjoy life.” Read more here

“The diet is high in fruit, vegetables, fish, nuts, whole grains and ‘healthy’ fats such as those in olive oil, while low in red meat and dairy products”. Read more here

There you have it, all the proof you need! The mediterranean diet is the answer. A little bit of changes one step at a time…